Press Releases

The House Republican Alliance issued a statement on the defeat of HB1436, a bill that would allow minors to being possession of alcohol in certain circumstances. There are at times when the House of Representatives clearly shows that people are not paying attention, or worse, reading even the shortest of bills. That happened today in the House when the Democratic Majority Leader and the Democratic Floor Leader spoke on the house floor about HB1436. Both loudly and proudly proclaimed that they were against underage drinking and therefore could not support HB1436.

"Maybe they should have read the bill," said Hudson Republican Representative Lynne Ober. "This bill provided a few narrow exceptions for those under the age of 21. For example does someone under the age of 21 drive a relative, perhaps a grandmother, to the grocery store and part of that purchase is a bottle of wine (unopened) or a 6 pack of beer. Currently this young driver could be charged with a violation for "transporting liquor" even though that young driver is really transporting a grandmother with her groceries, which do include some unopened item of liquor legally purchased at the grocery store."

The bill does provide exemptions for the use of liquor for medical reasons or for religious reasons. It does not condone or legalize under age drinking and it is curious that two prominent democrats had not read this short bill and yet spoke about it on the floor of the House.
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The House Republican Alliance commented on the defeat of HB1589 a bill designed to provide universal background checks for all gun purchases.

"This bill would not have done anything to prevent criminals who have illegally obtained weapons, from committing heinous crimes. The only people this bill would have affected are the law abiding citizens of our state; make it harder and more expensive for people to purchase self defense. Existing New Hampshire laws already provide for background checks." stated Rep Pamela Tucker- Greenland.

"Today was a good day for law-abiding citizen gun owners in New Hampshire, as this unnecessary and superfluous legislation was retired to the dustbin of history. Granite Staters can rest assured that there are some legislators in Concord who care about their rights, their privacy, and their freedoms," said Rep Dan Tamburello- Londonderry.

The House Republican Alliance issued a statement today on the passage of HB474, allowing in state tuition to students of illegal aliens. The bill would give the in -state tuition rate to some students who wish to attend the university system and whose parents have entered the country illegally.

"This is wrong on so many fronts," stated Rep Al Baldasaro- Londonderry. " Students from other states, whose parents have paid taxes and done everything right throughout their child's life are still forced to pay out of state tuition rates, yet because a student's parents broke our laws and entered our country illegally, they get a tuition break . This also opens up the door to take away taxpayers money for $500.00 grants to New Hampshire kids. These students will now be eligible to take grants that could have been applied to legal, instate students."

"I can appreciate that they may have not come to the United States on their own volition, however, it is also unfair to foreign students who are lawfully in the United States on visas. They must pay out of state tuition rate. We are sending a terrible message to these students who follow the rules and pay higher tuition rates. Let them wait until they have applied for legal residency and become citizen, then they can get the in-state tuition rate," Stated Rep. Ralph Boehm- Litchfield.

HOUSE REPUBLICAN ALLIANCE ISSUES STATEMENT ON HB562, RELATIVE TO TITLE LOANS

The House Republican Alliance issued a statement today on the passage of HB562, limiting interest on title loans. The Commerce committee had seriously studied this bill and concluded that more reporting information was needed. However, a floor amendment that returns the bill to limiting the interest rate to 25% the first month and 3% per month thereafter passed on the house floor.

“This bill with the floor amendment will put 40 people in the title loan business out of work. There have been almost no complaints against title loan companies in the past year,” stated Rep. Pam Tucker-Greenland. “This is an ideological solution looking for a problem that will not only cost our state jobs, but remove a legitimate avenue for people who need short term loans. This bill will drive folks who need this type of loan to unregulated, out of state internet lenders and to illegitimate loan sharks.”
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CONCORD – The House Republican Alliance (HRA) today issued a statement on the passage of HB 435, a bill that allows additional funding for charter public schools students. This bill increases funding to 50% of the most recent available statewide average.

“This is a win-win for the charter school students who have been grossly underfunded for years. It is a first step in the legislative process in assuring the increase in funding for charter school students.” Stated Rep. Al Baldasaro- Londonderry.

“Increase in funding may attract more charter schools around the state, and especially in the north country. Four charter schools have been closed in the past year, all due to lack of funding,” commented Rep. Ralph Boehm- Litchfield. “There are many types of charter schools in the state that appeal to a wide variety of needs for our students. This bill will help students by providing more choice in education and needed funding for the schools that fit their needs.”
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CONCORD – The House Republican Alliance (HRA) today issued at statement regarding the House leadership efforts to ram through the House a second attempt at the passage of Medicaid (welfare) expansion. The amendment to HB 544, is almost identical to the Medicaid expansion bill that passed in the House during the special session in November of 2013, but was rejected by the Senate.

“Since the special session in November, new information about the usage of Emergency Room use for Medicaid patients has been released, clearly showing that expanding Medicaid increases, not decreases the use of emergency room for visits,” stated Pam Tucker-Greenland. “This bill is being rushed through again with little regard to how we will pay for the nearly $18 million in new state costs when the broke federal government stops paying for it.”

“There is a critical weakness with Expanded Medicaid that no one addresses. Because Obamacare refuses to allow insurance for lower income adults, early retirees may be forced onto Medicaid. What the population does not know and the press has not discussed is that the expanded Medicaid program for those 55 and older is not insurance, but rather a loan program. If a person is 55 or older and receives a Medicaid payment, after death of that person, his / her estate must repay 100 percent of those payments -- thus this is a loan program and not health insurance for this group. This rushed procedure to pass Medicaid expansion again by attaching a major policy and cost through via an amendment is unprecedented in the House.” States Lynne Ober- Hudson. “As a member of the committee on Medicaid expansion last fall, we received the fiscal note just 30 minutes prior to exec’ing the bill, giving us little time to digest the devastating impact to our state and costs.”
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House Republican Alliance statement on creating Obamacare State exchanges

CONCORD – The House Republican Alliance (HRA) today issued at statement on the second passage creating a state exchange for Obamacare implementation. HB 544, will allow the state to create and fund a state based exchange for Obamacare.

“The states well known expertise in developing complex computer systems challenges that of the federal government and their implementation of Obamacare. The transition to Medicaid Managed Care was delayed repeatedly due to IT problems. We cannot expect that such a detailed system required to set up a state exchange can quickly and effectively be implemented in the near future without headaches and problems for our citizens,” Stated Carol McGuire- Epsom.

“Without the state exchange in place, the government cannot enforce the tax from Obamacare on residents and businesses for not having health insurance coverage. Those who voted to pass HB544 put their constitutents in the crosshairs of the federal government,” stated Dan Itse- Fremont.
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CONCORD – The House Republican Alliance (HRA) today issued at statement on the proposed increase in the gas tax.
Last week a group in the state house came out in support of a proposed "indexed gas tax" that would allow the gas tax to continue to rise year after year with "zero legislative over-site".

“There is no reason to raise a tax when New Hampshire has an adequate revenue stream,” Rep. JR Hoell- Dunbarton stated. "The issue regarding lack of funds to maintain our infrastructure is not a funding issue, nor even an inadequate revenue stream, the issue is the continued looting from this dedicated fund.”

“Increasing this tax will only hurt the families that need our help the most. This added tax burden during the winter will only force our most at risk citizens to cut back on other necessities like food and heat,” Rep. Pamela Tucker- Greenland states. "Before we start asking for more money we need to quit wasting almost 30% of the budget on functions prohibited by our constitution. The path forward is clear, rein in the abuse of this dedicated fund and start repairing the roads."
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The House Republican Alliance has elected three co-chairs for the 2013-2104 term. They are Representatives Al Baldasaro of Londonderry, Carol McGuire of Epsom and Pam Tucker of Greenland. All three have been active in the HRA and in House leadership.

Democrat leadership has deliberately scheduled Republican-sponsored bills to be heard at conflicting times, so that sponsors cannot give them the attention they deserve. For example, Rep. Renzullo had eleven of his bills scheduled for committee hearings on the same day, with many at the same time.